This invention relates to a baler for forming round bales of agricultural crop material, and more particularly to a crop material feeding arrangement for a variable chamber round baler having a belt arrangement defining an expandable chamber within which a round bale of crop material is formed.
Round balers for agricultural crop material typically include a pickup for lifting crop material off the ground and feeding crop material rearwardly into a bale-forming chamber. Viesselmann et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,089, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, illustrates a bale-forming chamber which is defined by a floor roller in combination with a bale-forming section defined by a series of side-by-side belts, an upper stripping roller and an initial bale-forming roller. Crop material is supplied to the floor roller and then engages the bale-forming section of the belts. The stripping roller and the initial bale-forming roller impart rotation to the crop material to form a rotating bale core. The bale-forming section of the belts expands as the bale grows, and the bale is eventually forced rearwardly out of contact with the initial bale-forming roller. The bale continues to grow within the baler as crop material is supplied by the pickup and floor roller until the bale attains a desired size, and the formed bale is then wrapped with twine or net-type wrap material and discharged from the baler.
In the design disclosed in the ""089 patent, incoming crop material from the pickup is supplied to the bale-forming area simply by engagement with the lower floor roller. While this arrangement functions satisfactorily, there is a need in certain crop conditions for providing a more active, aggressive arrangement for feeding crop material into the bale-forming chamber and for providing a configuration of bale-forming components which facilitates easy bale starting and bale formation, and which is operable to form bales which are tightly packed so as to maintain bale shape and strength when formed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a crop material feeding system which actively forces crop material into the bale-forming chamber of a round baler, to ensure that the crop material reaches the bale-forming chamber and to facilitate formation of the bale. It is further object of the invention to provide such a system which is capable of feeding varying types of crop material, which may vary in thickness, into the bale-forming chamber. Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a system which is capable of preventing buildup of crop material on components of the baler which define the bale-forming chamber. A still further object of the invention is to provide such a system which is relatively simple in its components and manufacture, yet which provides highly satisfactory feeding of crop material into the bale-forming chamber, both during initial bale formation as well as during growth of the bale after initial formation. Yet another object of the invention is to provide such a system which incorporates an efficient and effective drive system for a powered crop material intake, while accommodating movement of a powered feed roller to enable variations in the size of the crop material inlet.
In accordance with the invention, a round baler for forming round bales of agricultural crop material includes a pickup for moving crop material rearwardly toward a bale-forming chamber, which is defined at least in part by a bale-forming section of a movable belt arrangement incorporated in the baler. The bale-forming section of the belt arrangement is located between a pair of spaced baler rollers. The invention contemplates a pair of rollers located between the pickup and the bale-forming chamber which rotate in opposite directions so as to positively feed crop material into the bale-forming chamber. The baler includes a stationary rear floor roller located below the bale-forming section of the belt arrangement, as well as an upper bale-forming member, preferably in the form of a roller, located above and forwardly of the rear floor roller. The bale-forming section of the belt arrangement extends between the rear floor roller and the upper bale-forming member. The pair of rollers contemplated by the invention are preferably in the form of a front floor roller located forwardly of the rear floor roller and below the upper bale-forming member, and a powered feed roller located between the upper bale-forming member and the front floor roller. An initial bale-forming chamber is defined by the front and rear floor rollers in combination with the bale-forming section of the belt arrangement, the upper bale-forming member and the powered feed roller. The inlet for supplying crop material to the initial bale-forming chamber is defined by a space between the powered feed roller and the front floor roller. The front floor roller and the powered feed roller are driven in opposite directions of rotation, so as to act on crop material supplied by the crop pickup and to force the crop material rearwardly into the bale-forming chamber.
The powered feed roller is movable away from the front floor roller, so as to increase the size of the crop inlet defined by the space between the powered feed roller and the front floor roller, to accommodate an increase in the thickness of crop material supplied to the bale-forming chamber. In one embodiment, the powered feed roller is mounted between a pair of arms which are pivotably interconnected with the baler, for providing movement of the powered feed roller in an arcuate path toward and away from the front floor roller. A biasing arrangement is operable to urge the powered feed roller toward a normal operating position in which the powered feed roller is spaced a predetermined minimum distance from the front floor roller. As the thickness of crop material supplied to the crop inlet increases, the powered feed roller is pivotable away from the front floor roller to accommodate passage of the thicker crop material into the bale-forming chamber, against the force of the biasing arrangement. The arms are preferably mounted for pivoting movement about a pivot axis which is coincident with an axis of rotation defined by the upper bale-forming roller.
A scraper arrangement is provided for removing crop material which adheres to the upper bale-forming roller and to the powered feed roller. The scraper arrangement includes a scraper support member located between the upper bale-forming roller and the powered feed roller, and a pair of scraper members mounted to the scraper support structure. Each scraper member includes a scraping edge or surface located adjacent a surface of either the upper bale-forming roller or the powered feed roller, for removing crop material upon rotation of the upper bale-forming roller and the powered feed roller. In a preferred form, the upper bale-forming roller and the powered feed roller include helical surface structure which cooperates with the scraping surfaces to sever crop material adhering to the upper bale-forming roller and the powered feed roller.